Finding funding:

If you want to find financial support for postgraduate, postdoctoral or a major research proposal, or even to fund attendance at a conference, you need to identify possible funding opportunities.

COS Funding Updated daily, it contains details of funding opportunities from sponsors all over the world, including the major UK sources. You can search online, and can limit your search to oppoprtunities for UK researchers. It is also possible to browse by sponsor should you want to target particular sponsors. If you register for your own COS Workbench account, you will be able to save searches and receive email alerts when relevant funding opportunites appear. Use the following link with your ATHENS password for off-campus access.  COS Funding guide .

Research Professional - http://www.researchprofessional.com/  is another online database of funding opportunities. Access to this is provided by the Dept. of Research & Innovation. The database is international in coverage, but results are screened for UK applicants. To access this resource off campus, you need first to set up a personal account whilst you are on campus. The username & password you create will then give you access to the database off campus, and will also allow you to create alerts to notify you of relevant research funding opportunities.

Research Fortnight is available in print from the Library. It contains listings of the latest funding opportunities with deadlines over the following two months. It brings together advertisements for research jobs, and contains news and analysis on research policy developments.

RDFunding  is a website where you can search for mostly health-related research funding. It is freely available, and there are no usernames & passwords. In addition to searching for funding, you can subscribe to several ready-made RSS feeds.

UKRO Website & Information Services provides access to EU funding information. The Dept. of Research & Innovation have subscribed to this service. By registering with UKRO, you can tailor the service to your need and receive email alerts appropriate to your requirements.  UKRO Guide for Researchers.

EURAXESS Funding Search  lets you search for international funding opportunities, including travel to conferences, organising meetings, short research visits, fellowships etc.

RCUK and the individual Research Councils have websites where you can view current funding opportunities.

• AHRC (Arts & Humanities Research Council)
• BBSRC (Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council)
• EPSRC (Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council)
• ESRC (Economic & Social Research Council)
• MRC (Medical Research Council)
• NERC (Natural Environment Research Council)
• STFC (Science & Technology Facilities Council)

HEFCW provide funding to support the basic infrastructure that supports academic research and complements the funding provided by the Research Councils.

Applying for funding:

Having identified possible sources of funding, the next step is to produce a winnning application. The Department of Research and Innovation has officers who can provide pre-award support by advising on the preparation of applications for research funding and costing.

Early Career Researchers & Funding

If you are a new researcher or doing a PhD, VITAE (incorporating UKGrad & UKHERD) have useful tips and advice for finding and applying for funding through small grant schemes, fellowship programmes, and bursaries to attend conferences.

Does your application require a literature review?

Where you are required to produce a review of the literature related to your research proposal, you may find it helpfuld to look LIS & your literature review, or contact your subject librarian for advice and assistance in searching the relevant bibliographic databases.